Helen Williams enters her fourth season as the head coach at Merrimack College.

Williams returned the Warriors to the playoffs in 2008-09, posting an 8-14 conference record to go with a 9-19 overall record. Merrimack picked up big conference wins over rivals Bentley, Lowell and AIC and posted a road win at Saint Rose late in the season to push them into the playoffs. Amanda Shannon was second in the conference in scoring, earning second-team All-Conference honors. Three of Williams’ recruits, Hannah DeGraffinreed, Gennifer Roy, and Tiffany Colon figured prominently in the Warriors’ success.

In 2007-08, she guided the Warriors to a 9-19 record in her second season. Shannon was named to the Northeast-10 Conference Third Team while Kara Borelli earned All-Academic Honors. The Warriors finished with a 7-21 record in her first season as head coach.

An aspiring broadcaster, Williams served as a color analyst for the 2009 Mid Eastern Athletic Association (MEAC) men’s and women’s basketball championships.

Williams was hired on May 1, 2006. She came to Merrimack College with 17 years of Division I women’s basketball coaching experience and 19 years of coaching in women’s basketball. She joined the Warrior athletics family after having served the last four seasons as the first assistant and recruiting coordinator at Princeton.

While with the Tigers, Williams was responsible for recruiting, on-floor coaching, scouting, and game preparation. She helped Princeton to a 21-7 overall record and a 12-2 Ivy League record in 2006-07, both school bests for the program. During her time in New Jersey, she coached four Ivy League All-Rookies, including the 2005 Rookie of the Year, and two All-Ivy League selections.

Prior to her post at Princeton, Williams spent time as an assistant coach on staff at the United States Naval Academy (1997-2002), Western Michigan (1993-97), South Florida (1991-93), Wake Forest (1989-91), and Division II Lenoir-Rhyne (1987-89). In 1998, her Navy team was crowned Patriot League Champions. In addition, Williams served as head coach of the 2002 All-Navy team, where she was responsible for developing and implementing a four-week plan to prepare for and compete in the Armed Forces Tournament.

Williams graduated from Wake Forest University in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in health science. She was a four-year member of the Demon Deacon women’s basketball team. She received her Master’s degree in counselor education from Lenoir-Rhyne in 1989.

Williams is a member of several organizations, including the Black Coaches Association and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. She is also a member of the American Association of University Women and the Business and Professional Women’s Foundation. She has served as a staff member and director at several camps and clinics, and she has worked on numerous presentations and publications within the women’s basketball coaching community.

Scott Smith enters his fourth season as an assistant coach under Helen Williams.

He joined the women’s basketball coaching staff in 2006 along with Coach Williams and is in charge of recruiting, film exchange, on-court coaching, and serving as the team’s academic liaison.

Prior to his current position, he was the assistant coach at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina. During his tenure with the Quakers, they compiled an overall record of 39-40. As the top assistant, Smith’s responsibilities were film exchange and monitoring the team’s academic progress. In addition, he had several practice and game-day duties.

Prior to his post at Guilford, Smith spent two years as the head girls’ basketball coach at Holy Cross High School in Louisville, Kentucky. He led the team to a 44-20 mark and two Class A 6th Region titles. While at Holy Cross, he was also an assistant coach for the boys’ team.

Smith has also spent time coaching in the Indiana high school system, at Northview High School (1998-2000) and Edgewood High School (1995-98). At Edgewood, he compiled a three-year record of 43-19 and won the West Central Conference Championship in 1996.

Smith graduated from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor of science in education in 1995. He received his master of science in kinesiology from Indiana University in 1997. Smith is actively involved in the camp and clinic scene, having worked several camps throughout his career, including the Blue Chip camps.

Smith is a member of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. A former teacher and cross country coach, Smith has several affiliations within the two groups, including membership in the U.S. Track Coaches Association and the United States of America Track and Field Organization.

Entering her first year with the Merrimack women’s basketball program, Jennifer Chuks comes to North Andover having been a Membership and Marketing Graduate Assistant at the University of New Haven from 2007 to 2009. In the spring of 2009, she earned a Master’s in Business Administration at New Haven with a concentration in Management of Sport Industries.

Prior to New Haven, Chuks had been an intern with the Programming Department at ESPN where she was responsible for organizing college basketball statistics and implementing programs to identify top high school athletes.

In her playing days, Chuks earned a full athletic scholarship to play basketball at the University of Hartford. In 2006, she earned her undergraduate degree from the University in psychology. While in Hartford, she was an administrative assistant in the Hawks Athletic Department from 2005 to 2006.

In addition to being a member of the UNH Sport Management Club, the Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) and Manut Bol’s Athletic Reading Club, Chuks has been the Women’s Program Director for Hoops for Hope in Lawrence, Massachusetts from 1998 to 2006.

Chuks currently resides in Methuen, Massachusetts.